Saturday, November 12, 2011

The ArrivalLast year, with so many grandchildren having reached the age of invitation to the Halloween parties, I decided it would be best to do two of them, one for the boys and one for the girls. So began the annual Boys Halloweenie Camp Out. I never did get around to posting last years activites so I wanted to make sure I got it done this year. For the boys, Grandpa pitched a tent which we decorated with spiders and webs. This year we all went bowling. Last year we did a movie at the theater. They were more interested in getting back home to hunt for ghosts just like last year. We ate pizza at the bowling alley and consumed enormous amounts of junk once we got home. This year instead of ghosts, we had a pumpkin hunt amongst the trees in the back yard.

They loved it all. They ran and yelled and jumped and rolled!

And when they began to wear down, we lit the fire and roasted marshmallows.

They were ready to lie down by ten and entered the tent. The weather was still so warm, even though it was the 12th of October. The wind was whistling and the humidity was dense. By 2am Tiny wanted to sleep in the house. He was followed by Buddy sometime later and around 5 Dawson came staggering in. I slept in the recliner once the first one gave it up. Grandpa stayed all night on the patio in his cot. Lino woke up sometime before the sun came up and took my place in the lounge chair next to Granpa. All of the boys were no worse for the wear come morning and all left to go to other activities by seven except for Lino. He hung out with me until around two in the afternoon and we had a great time, playing games and watching a movie. Even though they had to leave early, I think all had a lot of fun and they are already thinking of next year.

And Down the Yellow Brick Road, we had the 5th Annual Girl's Halloweenie Sleepover on the 28th of October. And I had the best time, planning and hosting all of my beautiful girls, excepting little Lexie who isn't old enough yet. This year however, she realized she didn't get to stay and cried, breaking my heart. I am sure she will be ready to attend next time around. Our festivities began in the Emerald City with a buffet of scrumptious tacos, rice, and all of the favorites of my girls. At the table they found their annual sock all wrapped up like cupcakes with a rainbow sucker for a topper. (Thanks to Brenda Hall who always has the best ideas.)

Grandpa made a perfect hourglass for the table. This is a story in and of itself! Suffice it to say, he made a special trip to the store after he broke the first hour glass the night before the party and I was of course a little upset! As always, he saved the day! He called to say they had an orange one but no, that wasn't good enough! After all, the whole color scheme of the table was red and black. I am so bad!! So he called Ashley and bless her little heart; she dropped everything and scooted over the the El Centro Marshalls and found a red one. So now we have an extra orange hour glass for the next occasion I need one! (I should be and am a little ashamed!! Poor Tom!!After all I had green plates as we were in the Emerald City and originally I was doing the whole table in green! And he actually chooses to live with Me? I should have been sent to my room!)

Tied to each of their chairs was a broom that they later used to play a game I called The Flying Monkey.(I could barely walk by Sat. afternoon as I was the flying monkey gone bad!) They each put their broom on one end of the yard by the witch. I, the monkey, stood in the middle and they were at the other end of the yard. The object of the game was to retrieve their broom before the monkey tagged them. If they were tagged before they got back to the Emerald City with the broom, they fell asleep in the spot they were tagged. Then someone who had a broom and made it back had to come rescue them by tagging them with their broom. It was the best tag game I ever played. I had more fun than a "barrel of flying monkeys"

I usually do a ghost hunt but wanted to mix it up this year. Last year we had a treasure hunt in addition to the Ghost hunt and it was a favorite. So this year we we hunted for the Ruby Slippers. I went to Goodwill and found the perfect pair of heels to turn into a pair of Ruby Slippers. They were part of the centerpiece for the table when we began but ended up hidden in the haunted forest, filled with a crystal heart for each of my "pretties". The hearts were wrapped in damask sacks and later each girl made hers into a necklace. While I was out hunting for the perfect shoes to turn into the slippers for the table, I hit the dollar store and found 5 pairs of little gold slippers that were meant to decorate a tree. There the idea for my treasure hunt was born. Although I searched every dollar tree from here to El Centro, I could not find 2 more pairs. We made do. I turned all said shoes ruby red with a little paint and glitter. Then each was tied with a line or two of a poem that contained clues. They had to find all of the little slippers and put the poem together to figure out the clues. It was a little harder for them than I expected but with a little help they soon figured it out. The first place they were sent was through the field where poppies cannot grow, up the vertical mountain, though the long dark tunnel where the witch was melting on the castle floor. They made it to the playhouse out back where they found a pile of witch's clothes on the floor. Under her cape they found another clue with a magic wand that lit up. They had to light their wands and then find another clue that was hidden somewhere on the castle walls. This led them into the haunted forest where the Ruby Slippers lay hidden amongst snakes and spiders,(all plastic of course.) It was great fun to watch them figure it all out.

Each girl had her picture taken in the Ruby Slippers and and Rainbow Tshirt. (Kaylie and Syd had pink spider shirts. It's hard to find 7 of anything when you need it!!)

We also had our annual crafting session and it was heard that it was the best craft we ever did. They each painted a board that Grandpa cut in their color of choice and decoupaged the letters HOME in rainbow colors of paper. Then they applied lime green vinyl words that said "there's no place like" over the top. A hook went into the bottom and a pair of Ruby Slippers used in the hunt were threaded with ribbon and hung. Very Cute!! And thank you to my good buddy Renae for cutting all of those letters and vinyl on your trusty Cricket before you left! What would I do without you??) Small problem encountered was the fact that we were short two pairs of slippers so Grandpa, who is always there to lend a hand, said he would hand carve each pair for the two oldest guests. So they are still waiting patiently for their slippers.While crafting we had a surprise guest that illicited a round of screams and much chaos. He remained all night and in the morning we escorted him from the garage, back into the wild from whence he came. Isn't he a lovely green? And he had the biggest eyes!

There are always unplanned activities that come up and this year was no different. Kaylie and I were talking about costumes and she was wearing a headband in the manner of the 70"s so I told her she should wear a red velvet dress I had that was pure 1968 vintage and in beautiful condition. I had it in a box in the closet. So out came the box, which also contained my wedding dress. The velvet dress fit her perfectly and for some reason I didn't get a picture of that. But one thing led to another and all of the girls began to try on my wedding dress and that led to all of Ashley's prom dresses and they modeled and laughed and we had the best time.

We ate and played and painted until we were all worn out and ready for our movie which of course was.....The Wizard of Oz! Most of the party goers were asleep before Dorothy made it to the Emerald City but Brooke and I saw her wake up safe and sound back in Kansas. In the morning, we finished up our craft, ate pancakes of course, with scrambled eggs, always the favorite. Then Kaylie and Syd played on the computer and cleaned the kitchen, (bless their little hearts) and the other girls played in the yard, dressing up and making believe, my favorite thing to watch them do. Sydney did join them and I finally coaxed Kaylie out for a picture.

They all went home by one, I mopped the floor, took a pain reliever and slept on the couch! I LOVE HALLOWEEN SLEEPOVERS!!! And a most excellent and heart-felt THANK YOU to my wonderful and beautiful daughter Ashley who made this all happen. If she had not been with me every step of the way, from planning to cooking to crafting, none of it would have happened! Thank you sweetheart! I love you!